Matthew Kam

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Having won most of the prizes available in this state, Matthew
Kam is heading to Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music to
gain a Master of Music Performance degree and furthering his
already notable career.

A protege of Max Cooke and the Team of Pianists, Kam has won the
Australian National Piano Award, the 3MBS-FM Performer of the Year,
Margaret Sutherland Bursary and the 2000 Malaysian National Piano
Festival, along with several other significant prizes.

As shown by his farewell recital on Monday night, he possesses a
considerable technique that enables him to take on a wide variety
of works.

His solo work for this event began with the Beethoven Sonata No.
28 in A Major; switched to the glittering exuberance of Liszt's
La Campanella study; took in three of Mendelssohn's
Songs Without Words; and ended a tour of 19th-century
great pianist-composers with Chopin's F Major Study from the Op. 10
set and the last of the Ballades.

The Liszt extravaganza enjoyed a controlled interpretation,
which showed respect for the work's underlying pulse, the cadenzas
treated with efficiency and the performer taking pains to account
for every note. Kam gave to the F minor Ballade a finely balanced
opening and showed a keen awareness of the extraordinary changes in
temperament and touch required for the work's last pages.

At the same time, the Beethoven sonata revealed a lack of
imposed personality, so that the work's technical requirements took
on a heightened importance. In the middle march movement, Kam
sustained a high energy level and kept his head in the exciting
awkwardness of the conclusion to the last movement.

But such a work needs the impact of a mature consciousness
behind it, a continuous vision that can give the entire structure
both impetus and direction. A discovery of his interpretative
resources could be the next significant step for this talented
musician, the acquisition of a self-awareness that comes through
heightened exposure to novel influences - new teachers, new
colleagues, new performance conditions.

Kam is probably better suited to the soloist role than that of
accompanist. On Monday, his associate artist, cellist Josephine
Vains, enjoyed his support in Beethoven's Variations on Mozart's
Bei Mannern, but he proved over-dominant in Prokofiev's
Cinderella Adagio, and the Schumann Adagio and Allegro was
also keyboard heavy.

Whatever he chooses for his specialised fields, many of us who
have enjoyed Kam's work over the past five years will look forwards
to his return with high optimism.